Some FEATURED ARTISTS on this week’s Stronger Than Dirt (Saturday, 8-10pm) include the Factory, Can, XTC, Epicycle, Family Fodder, Savage Republic, Spongetones, Lida Husik, Causey Way, Eddie Current Suppression Ring, new music by Qlowski (London), Juan Wauters (NYC), and Spread Joy (Chicago), as well as the weekly Dusty Diamond.
PICTURE SLEEVE OF THE WEEK: Savage Republic is an LA-based post punk band that formed in the early 80s. Their first album, “Tragic Figures,” was first released on Independent Project Records in 1982 in a limited edition of 1000 numbered copies. It was repressed and reissued several times in the following years. The silk-screen and letterpress printed cover (click on images for greater detail) was designed by bassist and IPR founder Bruce Licher. The front cover features a 1979 photograph by Iranian photographer Jahangir Razmi, in which Iranian Revolutionary Guards execute Iranian Kurds. It won a Pulitzer Prize for Photography anonymously in 1980, and his identity could only be revealed in 2006. Listen to Savage Republic below:
LAST WEEK’S DUSTY DIAMOND (a forgotten gem from the STD vaults): The Satelliters are a garage rock band from Darmstadt, Germany, and have been active since the mid 90s. They have a 60s inflected sound with twangy (often surfy) guitar, prominent keyboards, and snarling vocals. “She’s Evil” is a brooding mid-tempo burner with nifty psychedelic wah wah effects. The singer’s occasional piercing, anguished screams reinforce the main idea of the song: his woman is no good. It appeared in 1996 on their “The Thyme Is Now” album on Pin Up Records. Listen to it below:
Promo art from Family Fodder’s’ 1980 single on Fresh Records. Artwork uncredited.